Have I mentioned that I love food? Yes, it's true. I love going out to new restaurants, trying new dishes/drinks, and, best of all, not having to a single bit of clean-up afterwards! Recently, Jordan and I tried a new restaurant,
Venue, in the Highlands.
Our visit on a random Monday was necessitated by an expiring Groupon, but I'm very thankful for the "Your Groupons are expiring soon. Go use them you dummy." email that I got that encouraged us to go. Thankful on one hand that I didn't let the Groupon go to waste, and thankful on the other hand because our meal was fantastic!
Mondays are one of the three days (the others being Sunday and Wednesday) that Venue offers a set $35 price for a choice of any appetizer, entree and dessert from their regular dinner. Being the "thrifty" people that we are, Jordan and I both went for that deal.
I started off with a Spinach Salad as my appetizer. To say that I enjoyed this would be a vast understatement as my plate was practically licked clean by the end of it (but I'm a lady and would never lick a plate...well, almost never! :) ). The spinach was perfectly crisp and was covered with the most delightfully salty vinaigrette I've ever had. Bits of goat cheese, candied pepitas and golden raisins were also sprinkled throughout. Delightful!
My entree course was something that I've heard great things about through restaurant reviews and other word-of-mouth sources - Shrimp and Grits. I've never really had grits before as I've always seen them as a paste-like substance, aka something I would never choose to eat. Luckily, paste consistency was not anywhere in the picture. The grits were (I assume) perfectly cooked, piled on top of a chile sauce. I caught a good chuck of the chile sauce right on my tongue...yowza! The tiger shrimp pieces were also wonderfully cooked and dusted with some sort of spice that was delicious. Again, cleaned my plate this round, too.
For the dessert course, I opted to go with a seasonally appropriate Pear Tarte Tatin. We had received the dessert menus to peruse for our choices and I had overheard our server telling the next table that they only had one of the tartes left. Being the focused dessert fiend that I am, I literally flagged him over so I could snag the last one! It was completely worth it as the dish was delightful! The tart was complimented with a salted caramel ice cream that, if I weren't in public, I would've licked the melted bits off of the plate. I LOVE DESSERT!
Nothing fun to share about drinks here. I had a sore throat and was starting to get sick, so I just opted with a ginger ale. Boo.
Overall, I really liked Venue and would totally go back. The space is so small (seriously probably about 20'x30'), but they pack the tables in just right and the servers absolutely bust their butts to make the service go well in "cramped" quarters. If you're reading this and are in the Denver area, go try it!
P.S. Wish I had pictures to show of any of the dishes that I tried, but I was always halfway through eating each course before I remembered, and let's be honest, a picture of half-eaten food is just hideous. I'll get better at this blogging thing, I swear.
P.S. The 
